Localvores living abroad

Tonight, we went out in high-end neighborhoods not far from our friend's house in Casablanca. This is a gentrifying neighborhood close to an enormous seaside mosque.

We were out trying to find some quick ingredients to put on a fast dinner. On the way, we had the good fortune to turn towards a bakery and some flower stands and find a great public market where we purchased lots of great greens, veggies, fruit etc. Outside, we also bought fresh baked breads from local vendors. We brought all of this home and had a scrumptious supper.

Casablanca is another city that is filled with small shops and great markets. On the rooftops and surrounds of a neighborhood central market you can find barbers, seamstress, repair shops, and all other sorts of small businesses you could imagine existing in the mid-twentieth, late 19th, or, perhaps even, 22nd centuries!

We love this kind of green travel.

We are localvores, we prefer to eat local, fresh, seasonal products that are unprocessed and come from local sources and traditions. The best breads and cheeses, the freshest produce, the highest caliber food production we discover available in these green markets. What delights!


More than just improving our palates, we learn from or meet the producers and farmers. We also gain better green food habits by being localvores. At local markets, by example, you do not encounter those same strange looks when you arrive with your own shopping bag or basket. For a farmer-come-to-market the reusable wood crates, wicker baskets, and tough cardboard make sense - where as having plastic bags around is just additional cost passed on to the customer.

Relearning what it means to buy local is a wonderful path. We have learned most from places where cultures have never morphed away from local production and/or delivery systems of food and services. We have found what we love in South American, Caribbean, and Indigenous Markets of our homelands existing in all parts of the world. The major difference between Aix-en-Provence or Astor Place, it turns out, is that in elite green markets the cost is more for the luxury; whereas in 'third world' markets we pay less for not importing foreign goods not in season and the 'luxury tax' f big box retail.

We remember what we loved in the enormous city affairs in China and Ghana. But, the more local we can shop the better. We are always compiling favorite memories of localvore shopping. As we progress on this path, we are defining our terms for what it means to find a great shopping community that is not based on consumerism, consumption, or marketing - but, rather, social, cultural, and familial market traditions. The more local the market the more sentimental it feels to return to it. Africa, Asia, and the Middle East have all been places that pulsed with this sentiment and a commonality of purpose in the human joy that exists more in public markets. North Africa, in Morocco, weare finding, also has these wonderful charms.

The more that a community provides for the localvore to dig down to the localist possible ingredient, merchant, or guild - the more that one can reach the source, or, near the source of the product or service which one is buying - the happier, more knowledgeable, informed and interconnected we can be. As we take on the attributes of informed and connected purchasing, we become more responsible and humane citizens of our communities.

There are too many examples for us to mention, however, India's always a great example for me of highlighting how even in mass urban communities we can rediscover our humanity through engaging our fellow people. In Mumbai, a city that is very high-paced and developing rapidly, public shaves and street haircuts still took place, spice and vegetable vendors were on pedestrian overpasses, and, my personal favorite, individual cologne dosages (daily or for special events) were sold at your local fine purveyor of smelling potions. When you participate in daily ways, when you must return to the markets and engage with your neighbors directly, you build fabric of society. When you purchase what it is that gives you life and know or trade to the source - you give your body dignity as well as nutrition.

Today, on a short detour from a supermarket, in a rush to get some quick ingredients for dinner - we discovered once again the value and contentment of the lifestyle and power of the localvore.
We remember my mother--in-law's friend Peggy in Oregon who is spending the next six months with her husband only purchasing what they have preset that they are going to shop for. If this sounds easy, try it. We applaud Peggy for leading the way to smarter consumption. Fi we think about what we hae to buy before hand, we are more likely to use decision-making skills that save us money, make us healthier, and impact the world in positive ways. Last night, we set out to but some ingredients for dinner. Because we had no plan, it is no wonder we diid not come back with bags of plastic and processed food...thannk goodness we found the loca market.

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Islam and Equality

written by Nathan

Visiting Egypt has been a lesson in ethnic diversity and cooperation. It is a place that has worked for more than fifteen centuries on nondiscrimination based on gender, race, or ethnicity. While it would be overly simplistic to say that this has always been successful or that no prejudices or sexism exist here today, it is a concept which comes directly from the most ancient teachings of Islam. [Islam makes it very clearly a sin to prejudice. Mohammad, in his last sermon says, “You are all equal. Nobody has superiority over others except through piety and good action.”]

As the teaching on righteous love of all humanity has been passed through to the modern age, Egypt has developed without the visible and suppressive context of racism. There are likely many forms of discriminations which are not obvious, many lower classes of people have not received the same levels of education and opportunity as some in the upper classes. But the genuine politeness, civility, respect, and equality in the interactions we see on the street here are a very important lesson for those of us who have come from places with more discriminating and prejudicial cultures or political classes. In Islam, the prophet Mohammad is very explicit, “An Arab is not superior to a non-Arab, and a non-Arab is not superior to an Arab. A white has no superiority over a back, nor does a black have superiority over a white. You are equal.”

Before ever arriving, I was expecting friendliness in the Arab world. Both my parents and grandparents had spent considerable time here before I was born and spoke very highly of the virtues of hospitality, generosity, and piety here.

With my grandfather, I had seen a ‘conflict of the Middle East’ from a USA perspective occurring in miniature, right before my eyes. After my grandmother had passed, my grandfather had mover in with one of his younger sisters, so that they could look after each other. But brother and sister had very different political views: my Aunt Inez was the spokesperson and matriarch for the most firebrand republicanism; my grandfather a ‘dyed in the wool’ progressive democrat. The two of them played out conflicts America was having in their living room; as the build up to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq swirled around us all.

Most of their conflict occurred in front of the TV. Like many Americans, they were divided along media lines. When my Great-Aunt had on FOX news, my grandfather would berate the television as slanderous. When he would have his NPR tuned to the kitchen radio, Aunt Inez would ask him to please, ‘turn off that liberal mouthpiece.’ So, it went on.

But, my grandfather had lived with people of the Middle East. He knew them intimately. His coworkers had depended on him; and, they had saved his life on several occasions. This is why my grandfather was so distraught during his last years, over the conflicts erupting in the Middle East. He had lived all over the world and spent most of this time living in many different countries of the Middle East. He would tell me often (and FOX news during the staged conflicts performed by actor/news people), “Those Arabs are the kindest, most generous people in the world. This war is about lies!” I know better now how right he was…

Conflicts in the world, whether in the Middle East or elsewhere have not gone away entirely, despite the advocation of peace by Mohammad, Jesus, Buddha, Ghandi or the like. However, harmony between peoples occurs everywhere. The way we see this generalized non-prejudice manifested in Egypt is in the interactions which we see between people. There are couples of differing complexions. There are people of dark color in positions of power. More important, there is a general harmony. Missing in Egypt is the class and racial prejudice which is so internalized and oppressive in our western make up.

Now, it is easier to understand how truly devout Muslims, from parts of the world with great religious conflict, benefit from their Islamic pilgrimages. They can see with their own eyes and understand non-prejudice and cooperation and be hopeful. As Malcolm X said when he went to Mecca to perform Hajj: “My pilgrimage broadened my scope. It blessed me with new insight….I saw what I never had seen in thirty-nine years in America. I saw all races, all colors - blue eyed blonds to black skinned Africans - in true brotherhood! In Unity! Living as one! Worshipping as one!”

Travel is something which widens our perspective. Sometimes it gives us insight into harmony and togetherness where we did not know opportunities would exist. So, it is valuable for Muslim and non-Muslim alike to visit Egypt; to understand the value of sixteen centuries of intentional non-prejudice.

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